Out of Silence
by That Buggy Girl
Summary: "Brainy…" Clumsy frowned thoughtfully at the other Smurf's back, "That's not any different from normal. No one ever listens to you."  MOVIE SPOILERS.


**Notes:** Hi. Long time Smurf fan, first time writing in the fandom. I went and saw the movie with the brother and this little idea has been plaguing me since. I hope you guys all enjoy it!

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><p>By the time they returned to the village, things seemed to be absolutely, one hundred percent back to normal.<p>

Well, the village wasn't back to normal yet. There was a lot of destruction to rebuild; a lot of lives to piece back together. The rest of the village had been in a panic when they had seemingly vanished, sucked in to the vortex to that other world. What were those left behind supposed to do? Their friends had just…_disappeared._

How could they even think about fixing the village with their world so shattered?

But Clumsy…_He_ was back to normal.

Before any one even had a chance to properly explain everything that had happened, he'd already tripped over bricks from some one's chimney, knocked over a basket of smurf berries and totally smushed the welcome back cake Greedy had baked.

For a little while, before they had left the city, he had believed that maybe he could continue to be the hero he'd been when he caught the dragon wand. As he'd settled down for one last night in Patrick and Grace's mushroom, that thought had flickered through Clumsy's mind; that wonderful, blissful thought that he could be better. That he would never hear that pitying "Oh Clumsy…" again or see that look of exasperation in the other Smurfs' eyes when he inadvertently ruined something.

He had been wrong.

But somehow…It was okay.

The others –who seemed to have forgotten that the whole mess was Clumsy's fault to begin with- wanted to hear the story over and over and over and over. Clumsy, used to being shooed away lest he destroy something, was suddenly the center of attention; the most popular Smurf in the village.

He still wasn't allowed to help with much; Handy was supervising the reconstruction and didn't want him wrecking things further, but most days, Clumsy still found himself right in the thick of things, telling the others of their adventure for the umpteenth time as they hammered and patched and painted.

And life was back to normal.

…Sort of.

Aside from his own sudden popularity, Clumsy had noticed something else strange in the village.

Brainy had been unusually quiet since their return.

The first day, of course, he had tried to tell his part of the story; tried to tell about Papa leaving him in charge of mixing the potion to make a Blue Moon and open the vortex. He'd scarcely got a word out, however, before their friends had pushed him aside, excited to hear Clumsy-the-hero's tale.

Nothing unusual there…Except Brainy seemed to be taking it hard.

He'd made himself scarce after that, not butting in as usual, offering advice about construction and blueprints and building materials. Normally, he was right in the middle of things, driving every one crazy with his advice and self-proclaimed words of wisdom.

Instead he was…Well, Clumsy didn't know where he was. He'd been so caught up in the excitement of being a celebrity, he'd completely forgotten about his best friend.

It wasn't right and that sudden realization –that he'd not given Brainy a single thought in days- left Clumsy with a strange squirmy feeling in the pit of his stomach. It wasn't like him to simply forget some one important to him, especially when that Smurf seemed a bit down.

If this was what being a hero was like, Clumsy didn't think he wanted to be one anymore.

But more important than that…Whatever was bothering Brainy didn't seem to be letting up. They'd been home for eight nights now and Brainy had remained hidden away wherever it was he'd been keeping himself. It'd been so strange not having him around that the others were starting to comment, even though they were probably glad not to be on the receiving end his sage advice.

The morning of the ninth day, Clumsy fell out of bed with the intent of finding his missing friend.

Brainy was predictable; he wouldn't be difficult to locate, now that Clumsy was determined to find him. There were a couple places they went together –and some Brainy preferred to visit alone- in the nearby woods; places he could slip away to easily. He had to be in one of them.

Miraculously, Clumsy made it through the morning without a single mishap, not even one little trip over his own feet. Usually, when he was in a rush, he was even more awkward than usual, crashing in to both things and Smurfs left and right. But something –perhaps the same determination that had fueled his actions in the big city- kept him out of trouble and on task.

And he found Brainy –sure enough- sitting atop a large, flat rock they had discovered near the dam when they were very young.

Clumsy paused beside an oak tree, taking a moment to look at his friend. Brainy was slumped forward, elbows on his knees, chin in his hands. He was just staring, shoulders hunched, glasses off and folded neatly beside him atop the rock.

"…Brainy?" Clumsy almost clapped his hand over his mouth as he spoke; there in the still woods, his voice shattered the silence, too loud and disruptive. For a split-second, he found himself wondering if he should have just left his friend alone, but he quickly chased that thought away. This was important.

Brainy jumped at the sound of his voice, snatching up his glasses and turning. "Clumsy!" For a moment, as he slid his glasses up his nose, he looked startled. Then he frowned a little, folding his arms across his chest. "Tired of being the center of attention?"

Clumsy mirrored the frown, padding over to look up at his companion from the base of the rock. Though he was a simple Smurf with simple ideals and an almost child-like thought process, Clumsy wasn't stupid. He could both feel and hear the defensiveness that crept in to Brainy's tone and posture. "Gee Brainy," It hurt, hearing his friend say that. Clumsy didn't ask for much, just a little respect now and then. "That's not fair. It's not like I smurfed for all of this to happen…"

"But that's not stopping you from letting every one treat you like a big, smurfing hero, is it?" Brainy snapped, scowling and turning his back towards Clumsy once again, "Like you did it all yourself and the rest of us didn't help. You got lucky, Clumsy. That's all. Papa and Gutsy and I, we performed all of the real heroic actions."

For a moment, Clumsy just gaped at him, stunned. Brainy had been mean to him before, and hurtful, but never like this. Never like this at all and something must have _really_ been bothering him.

Keeping that thought in mind, Clumsy fumbled his way up the side of the rock, only slipping once, and plopped down near his friend. A long silence stretched between them as Clumsy first reached for Brainy's arm, then thought better of it and drew back. His hands fell in to his lap and he looked down at his feet, grasping for the right thing to say. If their positions were reversed, he knew, Brainy would know exactly what to say. But Clumsy was just as gawky with his words as he was with his actions and he had no idea where to even begin.

"You smurfed the wand." In the end, it was Brainy who broke the silence, though he seemed to be addressing the trees more than Clumsy, "But still…I did a lot. I prepared the potion. I summoned the Blue Moon and opened the vortex. Without it, no one would have been able to come and help. I didn't think I could do it…But I did."

He went silent again and Clumsy slid a little closer. Brainy looked so sad and Clumsy had a big heart; all he wanted to do was give his friend a hug so he could feel better. "They know that." He offered instead, still not certain Brainy would accept any physical contact.

"I wanted to talk about it. It was my big moment and no one would even listen." And then Brainy was hunched over again, knees drawn up to his chest, arms wrapped around them.

"Brainy…" Clumsy frowned thoughtfully at the other smurf's back, "That's not any different from normal. No one ever listens to you." '_No one except me'_ he wanted to add, but the words got stuck in his throat, sinking back down somewhere to the bottom of his heart, where all the secret things he was too awkward to say made their home.

"But I had thought that perhaps this time…" For a second, Brainy's voice wobbled –would he cry?- and he paused, seemingly trying to compose himself, "I know I smurf them crazy. And I know you do too. But Clumsy…No matter what you do or wreck or destroy, they all still love you." Here he sagged, a weary sigh whooshing out as if he were deflating. "I don't even think they _like_ me."

Clumsy felt Brainy stiffen under his touch the second he scooted closer and embraced him. But he didn't care; his friend was sad and needed a hug badly. It made him hurt just thinking about it; he was used to a very different Brainy Smurf, one who was bossy and talkative and condescending, but also thoughtful and wise and always willing to forgive when Clumsy messed up. _That _was his friend, the Brainy he loved. "Oh Brainy…" He spoke quietly, afraid still of shattering the serene stillness of the woods, "I like you plenty. Isn't that enough?"

The silence that followed that was a dreadful one and Clumsy found himself thinking for the millionth time in his existence that he'd said the wrong thing. Though Brainy liked to have his ego stroked, he wasn't the most affectionate Smurf, nor was he very open with his personal feelings. Clumsy was both of those things, and though he tried to respect that Brainy was not, he worried he'd crossed a line this time.

Brainy pulled back for a moment, regarding him from behind thick lenses. Clumsy, unable to meet that inquisitive, critical gaze, ducked his head, the brim of his cap sliding down over his forehead. He couldn't bear it when Brainy looked at him like that, as if he was looking to find the hidden, special things inside of him.

It was Clumsy's turn to jump when Brainy pressed close to his side, awkwardly seeking to regain the soothing contact. It was still strange, seeing Brainy like this, but comforting him seemed right and Clumsy's heart felt big –as big as it had when he'd saved the day and every one cheered _for him_- as he automatically put an arm around his friend, tugging him back in to the hug.

The question was left forgotten as the pair settled comfortably against one another. Clumsy didn't mind. From out of the silence had come an answer, an answer that said everything would be back to normal tomorrow and that there was more than one way to be a hero. And he knew…

It was enough.


End file.
